FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will testify at his criminal trial, his defense team said Wednesday, in what many legal observers see as a Hail Mary attempt to persuade jurors that he never intended to defraud the crypto exchange’s customers out of billions of dollars.  

“We are going to put on potentially three witnesses, then our client is also going to be testifying,” lawyer Mark Cohen told the New York federal judge presiding over the case during a virtual hearing. Bankman-Fried will likely testify over Thursday and Friday, Cohen said. Federal prosecutors said they would rest their case Thursday morning.